Sharp County record., 1887-09-22

him, upon HIS COuiPohiOhi NF
children, upon his dining'hali upon
his nursery. The blessing comes III
at the front door, and the back door, ana
down through the skylight. God draws
long mark of credit for services received
Christ said to his disciples:
He that receiveth you receiveth Me; ana ne
that giveth cup OF cold water III tle nSiii0 0'
a disciple shall in no wise lose his reward
Aswe have had SO many things record
ed against US in Heaven, 1t will be satis-
faction to have written, on unfalllng
archives. the fact that in the month Oh
Nav, or June, or September, or Decehper'
1881, we made the blissful mistake OF sup
posing that we were entertaining weak
men like ourselves, when 10! they showed
their pinions before they left, ana We
found out that they were angels unawares,
Another reward comes in the goou
wishes and prayers of our guests l 10
not think ones house ever gets over nav
inq had a good man or woman aDlue
there. George Whitefeld used to scratch
ON the window of the room where he was
entertained passage of Scripture, anu III
one case, after he left, the whole mousse
hold was converted by the reading OF thaV
massage on the window-pane. The woman
of Shunem furnished little room over
the walls for Elisha, and all the ages nave
heard the glorious consequences Oh
cold stormy winter night, my father en-
tertained Trueman Osborne, the evangel'
ist, and through all eternity VIII tnanA
God that Trueman Osborne stopped aV
our house. How many of our guests nave
broupht to us coincidence and sympathy
and help! There is legend told OF St'
Sebald. that in his Christian rounds ne
used to stop for entertainment at tne
house of a poor cartwright Coming
there one day he found the
cartwright and his family freezing for the
lack of any fuel. st. Sebald ordered the
man to go out and break the iclcles from
the side of the house and bring them III,
and the icicles were brought into the house
and thrown on the hearth, and they began
TO blaze Immediately, and the freezing
family gathered around and were warmeu
by them. That was legend; but no"
often have our guests come IN 10 gatner
up the cold, freezing sorrows OF our lie,
warmth and good cheer.
He who opens his house to Christian
hospitality turns those who are strangers
into friends. Years will go by, and there
will be great changes in you, and there
will be great changes in them'
Some day you will be slttlng IN
loneliness, watching a bereavement,
and you will get letter in strange
handwriting, and you will look at the
most office mark, and say: "Why, / don't
know anybody living in that city," ana
YOU will break the envelope, and there
Won will read the story Of thanks for your
Christian generosity long years before,
and how they have heard afar off OF your
trouble. And the letter will be so full OF
kindly "reminiscences and Christian con-
dolence, it will be plaster large enough
to cover up the deep gashes Of your soul.
When we take people into our houses as
Christian guests, we take them into our
sympathies forever In bort, Holland,
soldier with a sword at his side stopped at
a house desiring lodging and shelter.
The woman of the house at first refused
admittance, saying 7hat tile mon of
the house were not at home; but when ne
showed his credentials, that he had been
honorably discharged from the army ne
was admitted and tarried during the night.
In the night time there was a knocking at
the front door, and two rufiians broke IN
m despoil that household. No sooner had
thew come over the doorsill than the
armed guest, who had primed his piece
and charged it with sugs, met them, and
telling the woman to stand back, am
happy to say, dropped the two assaulting
desperadoes dead at his feet. Well, now
there are no bandits prowling around TO
DESTROY our houses; but how often 1t is
that we find those that have been our
puests become our defenders. We gave
them shelter first, and then afterwards, IN
the great conflict Of life, they fought for
our reputation; they fought for our prop
erty; they fought for our soul.
Another reward that comes from
Christian hospitality is in the assurance
that we shall have hospitality shown to
ms and to ours. In the upturnings OF this
life, who knows in what city or land we
NAV be thrown, and how much we may
need an open door? There may come no
such crisis to us, but our children may be
thrown into some such strait. He who 10
in Christian manner hospitable has a
free pass through all Christendom. 1t may
be that you will have been dead fifty
wears before any such stress shall come
upon one Of your descendants, but do you
not suppose that God can remember fifty
wears? and the knuckle Of the grandchild
will be heard against the door OF some
stranger, and that door will open,
and it will be talked over in
heaven, and it will be said: "That mans
grandfather, fifty years ago, gave shelter
to a stranger, and now a strangers door
is open for grandson"
Among the Greeks, after entertaining
and being entertained, they take piece
of lead and cut it in two, and the host takes
one-half of the piece of lead and the guest
takes the other half as they part. These
two pieces Of lead are handed down from
generation to generation, and from family
to family, and after awhile, perhaps one
of the families in want or in trouble go
out with this one piece of lead and find
the other family with the corresponding
piece Of lead, and no sooner is the tally
completed than the old hos
pitality Is aroused and eter-
nal friendship pledged. SO the
memorv of Christian hOsDitality will